Coronavirus NSW: Sydney hotel COVID case ‘not locally acquired’
NSW Health has confirmed the COVID strain which infected a Sydney hotel work did not come from Australian clusters.
NSW
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The strain of COVID in a recent confirmed case in Sydney does not match any recent Australian clusters and may have originated in the US, NSW Health has confirmed.
The source of infection in a Minto woman is suspected to be international aircrew who were self-isolating in a hotel where she was working, however investigations are continuing.
NSW Health said it was working with Commonwealth agencies to identify potential COVID-19 cases among aircrew who stayed at the hotel, who may have since departed Australia.
Testing of close contacts of the case, and other staff at the hotel complex, is continuing but no other cases have bee identified so far.
The Minto woman travelled on a number of train and light rail services between November 27 and 30 November, and members of the public who travelled on the same services have been told to get tested and self-isolate until they receive their results.
Commuters who were in the same carriage as the woman are considered close contacts and need to self-isolate for 14 days, even if they initially receive a negative result.
All affected services and carriage numbers can be found on the NSW Health website.
US AIRCREW LIKELY SOURCE OF SYDNEY COVID CASE
An American aircrew likely brought COVID-19 into Sydney and infected a Minto woman working at a quarantine hotel, the NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has said.
The airline staff have since flown out of the country.
“Further genomic testing has been done and it now appears the most likely source is actually the United States,” Mr Hazzard said.
“What we believe has likely occurred was an aircrew from the United State was self-isolating in a hotel — probably the Novotel — and somehow the person doing the domestic work there got the virus from a member or members of the aircrew.”
The woman worked across two hotels, the Novotel, which housed returned overseas travellers, and the Ibis in Darling Harbour, with staff now on high alert.
Her five family members have all tested negative to coronavirus. Test results of her colleagues at the Novotel have all come back negative.
The new case was revealed on Thursday after 26-days straight of zero local cases in NSW.
It was counted towards Friday’s numbers as the day’s only case.
The revelation led to a scramble to deal with a “serious situation”, sparking a testing blitz and forcing hundreds of train and light rail passengers into isolation.
Mr Hazzard said the woman travelled to work from Minto, in Sydney’s southwest, by train and light rail.
She worked at the Ibis on Friday, November 27, and the Novotel on November 28, 29 and 30 with hotel staff now required to isolate and get tested, until further advised.
Anyone who lives in the Minto area have also been encouraged to get a swab.
The same goes for passengers who travelled on the city’s Light Rail and train network.
Mr Hazzard said it was good news the virus had not been locally transmitted.
“It is a massive relief, massive relief my point of view as Health Minister. But we still have work to do, we still have work to determine which aircrew or person from overseas, possibly in the hotel, managed to transmit it.
“Happy days, happy days indeed.”
BORDER CONCERNS
However, the new case could put Western Australia’s December 8 border reopening with NSW at risk.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said on Thursday he was awaiting advice from his health officials and would make an announcement over the weekend.
“I realise this is very disruptive to many people and very problematic to many people because they don’t know what’s happening,” he said.
“But at the same time, we have to make decisions that are based upon health advice.
“The NSW government is confident they have it under control, but we want to see and make sure that the evidence supports that before we make a final decision.”
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed on Friday the sunshine state’s borders would remain open but warned she is watching NSW closely.
”Continue with your plans,” Ms Palaszczuk told NSW and QLD residents on Channel 9.
“We’re monitoring it closely, and if anything changes we will let people know.”
To close the border again, Ms Palaszczuk said there would have to be a “very, very, very large outbreak”.
Plans to further ease restrictions in NSW from Monday will still going ahead, although Premier Gladys Berejiklian has stressed it is an “evolving situation” that could change at any time.
“If in the next few days the health advice changes I will not hesitate to act as the Premier as the health and wellbeing of our citizens take priority,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said the state’s hotel quarantine system was “robust”, but in welcoming 3000 returned overseas travellers every week as cases soared globally there remained a risk.
The Premier said she had expected there would be more cases even as she announced a major easing of restrictions earlier this week, and urged NSW people to be on high alert.
“This is a very serious situation but one we are managing,” she said.
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